Qualcomm and doubleTwist Want to Popularize MagicPlay, Their Open Source Version of AirPlay

The lack of an official AirPlay variant on Android is certainly something that has been open for third parties to attempt to jump in on. We’ve seen Zapstreak making strides toward a version of this, and now doubleTwist wants to jump in on this market along with processor manufacutrer Qualcomm. Their new service MagicPlay wants to be an open AirPlay replacement.

This protocol will be open source, and will stream media to Qualcomm devices running the AllJoyn protocol. Their chips are in devices as diverse as TVs and cars. As well, it will be possible to actually stream media over wi-fi, which hopes to alleviate some of the hassles that come with streaming media.

The benefit that MagicPlay will have in starting out is that doubleTwist has a sizable install base on Android, of 10–50 million downloads on Google Play alone. While they’ve tried to use AirPlay in the AirSync app, this is still limiting to only AirPlay receivers. While Zapstreak’s DLNA support gives it the widest compatibility, it will still need a way to breakthrough into the mainstream. doubleTwist may just provide that opportunity for MagicPlay. TechCrunch reports that it should start hitting this spring with source code available in Q3 2013, and doubleTwist is demoing it at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Carter Dotson

Carter Dotson, editor of Android Rundown, has been covering Android since late 2010, and the mobile industry as a whole since 2009. Originally from Texas, he has recently moved to Chicago. He loves both iOS and Android for what they are - we can all get along!